media art

Synaesthetic Syntax: Gestures of Resistance

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Synaesthetic Syntax is a one-day symposium on Sunday 11th September as part of the 10th Expanded Animation section of the Ars Electronica Festival. The event explores the complex relationship between sensory perception and expanded animation. In focussing on the primacy of the senses, the symposium aims to ask questions about the seduction of technology and how to maintain a discourse of what is fundamental about being human. This year’s theme is touch, gesture and physical movement. For more details about the presentations and how to view them online, go to the website for Expanded Animation.

We are delighted to welcome our keynote speaker and winner of a Golden Nica at this years Prix Ars Electronica: Rashaad Newsome. He will be giving his keynote presentation at 14.00 (CET) on Friday 9th Sept.

To be human, to be in a body, is to move and to feel; to move as it feels and to feel itself moving.[1] However, bodies do not exist in isolation. Bodies collide with one another in social contexts. They have the power to affect others or to be affected themselves. Bodies are structured by culture, but they can also resist. Motion and sensation felt in the body leads to change.[2]

At the time of organising the symposium, a line of tanks, armoured vehicles and troops 40 miles long were approaching Kyev: literally illustrating change in motion through technology. How can animation respond to this? How might technologies of gesture, proprioception and motion be used to create animation that goes beyond formalism and is able to reflect upon the forces that seek to contain movements towards change?

The sensation of touch can be brutal and violent or tender and loving. Through ‘haptic visuality’[3], a sense of touch can be evoked in animation by triggering physical memories of smell, touch and taste that engages the viewer bodily to convey cultural experience rather than through a use of language. How can touch be used in animation to create community or share memories?

Presentations:

The presentations respond to the following questions:

  • How to critically reflect on the tools and technologies of touch and movement used to create animation – motion capture, tablets and pens, sensors – and the data sets and libraries that they create?
  • How might the capture of motion, gesture and proprioception be used to innovate and tell stories of new communities?
  • What is the role of touch in conveying memory?
  • How might touch and biofeedback data be used in new ways to create animation?

[1] Paraphrase from p1. Brian Massumi, Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation (2002, Duke University Press)
[2] Cf. Massumi, op. cit.
[3] Laura U Marks, The Skin of the Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment and the Senses (2000, Duke University Press)

Fission: The New Wave of International Digital Art

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Guizhou Provincial Museum 29/4/22-31/8/22
Curated by Birgitta Hosea, Zhang Xiaotao, Li Fei

Featuring 44 international digital media artists, 54 works of art and covering 2200 square metres, this is Guizhou Province’s first international exhibition of digital art. The works cover a range of techniques, disciplines and approaches including interactive media, virtual reality, robotics, immersive installations, experimental animation, artificial intelligence and archaeological visualisation.

The central theme of Fission is the multiple different forms that digital art can take. Like the process of nuclear fission, the concept of digital art has become unstable and shot off in many different directions from its starting point at the intersection of science, technology and art. With transient populations, contradictions and conflicts between social interaction, capital and information, in our era of globalization technology and media reshape the world. Fission is a meeting in virtual time and space of digital art from the media laboratory to the public arena. It marks the rapid development of science and technology and provides a microcosm of the intersection of different cultures at a time of great change.
 
The exhibition is divided into four sections: 1) The Rebirth of Antiquities: the fusion of archaeology and digital art. 2) Post-life imagery: the connection between humans and nature, society and technology. 3) Synthetic Worlds: The Connection Between Virtual Reality and Real Worlds. 4) Algorithmic Images: The Meaning of Digital Art. 

Co-curator, Birgitta Hosea, talks about the exhibition:

Co-curator, Zhang Xiaotao, talks about the exhibition:

Co-curator, Li Fei, talks about the exhibition:

Ecstatic Truth VI: To Attend

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International symposium in which expanded animation and experimental moving image intersect with documentary, 22nd April 2022, University of Creative Communication, Prague, Czech Republic 

Symposium programme

View the presentations here:

Etymologically “to attend” comes from Middle English (in the sense ‘apply one’s mind or energies to’): from Old French atendre, from Latin attendere, from ad- ‘to’ + tendere ‘stretch’.

At a time when attending an event can mean two things: being present in person or virtually, new questions are raised about what attendance means. If attendance and attention have the same etymological roots, can we consider attending as a form of attention rather than requiring physical presence? And if the essence of attention is its elasticity, can we argue that attention is able to stretch to overcome physical distance? That our shared attention (as well as time and virtual platforms) allows us to be in attendance, together, no matter how physically displaced we are.  

According to philosopher and cognitive scientist Lucas Battich (TT journal 3) shared attention not only helps us learn better, it is also multi-sensory. Is therefore watching a film together more illuminating than watching it alone, in separate spaces? What effect our new, so called “hybrid reality” has on our attention? Which role do the so-called proximity senses play in being attentive, attending to presence?

Attention is a precious and limited human resource which is under pressure: multiple forces constantly fight for our attention. Not just every day demands but social media, advertising and various other inventions of our late capitalist world, which understand that attention and money are intertwined. Attention is what makes us present, attention is learning, attention is the fabric of our experience, attention is being conscious, being conscientious, it is our future memory: we remember what we pay attention to, the rest becomes an unconscious assimilation of facts. And as we know from advertising methods, subliminal messaging can affect us on a level where we are unable to rationalise its effect, hence are more vulnerable.

Film (and moving image) as a medium has long been associated with memory: Like the mind it records and edits, what it deems significant. It can capture moments in time, make them conscious and preserve them for the future. It enables us, the viewers, to attend to the presence of those that came before us, even if they no longer share our everyday reality… Temporal and physical distances are bridged.

In association with Animation Research Centre, University for the Creative Arts, UK; Lusafona University, Portugal and Tangible Territory journal

Holes: Spring 2022

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My installation, Holes, ran at ASIFAKEIL, Q21, Vienna from 1/12/21 – 20/2/22.

I gave a presentation about the installation at Belvedere 21 Museum of Contemporary Art for the Under_the_Radar festival in Vienna on 27th March 2022.

I’ll be giving an updated version of this talk at Animafest Scanner IX as part of the Zagreb Animation Festival on 7-8th June 2022.

Some stills from the film, that has sound design by Anat Ben-David:

The short film, Holes, that is shown in the installation has just started on the film festival circuit and has so far been shown at:

A version of Holes (the installation) is included in Fission: The New Wave of International Digital Art at Guizhou Provincial Museum from 29th April – 31st August 2022.

More showings and screenings to follow….

Holes: ASIFAKEIL, Vienna

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Due to the lockdown in Austria, I was unable to travel to install this work in person, so I am very grateful to Stefan Stratil and Holger Lang for putting it together for me and the exhibition has now opened. It’s seen through the windows of the gallery, so can be visited as part of a lockdown-compatible walk in the area.

The show was due to have an opening event as part of the Under_the_Radar festival, but this is now postponed. We hope that the festival can run at the end of January and plan a finishing event and presentation about the exhibition then. All is dependent on the pandemic and the regulations in place in Austria then. More news to follow.

Birgitta Hosea: Inaugural Professorial Lecture

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Here is ‘Expanding Animation and Other Queer Goings On’, my inaugural professorial lecture at the University for the Creative Arts in which I relate how I developed a post-medium approach to animation and much more besides.

Synaesthetic Syntax ‘Watch Party’ at IKLEKTIK London

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[All of the events from this year’s Expanded Animation strand at Ars Electronica are now available to view online on their You Tube Channel.]

Come together on Sun 13th Sept for a Synaesthetic Syntax ‘Watch Party’ at IKLEKTIK London. At this socially distanced event, a small group of attendees can watch the online symposium from the final day of the Expanded Animation events for Ars Electronica on a big screen together. The presentations explore the interrelationships between audio and animation, between sound and vision. It is hosted by co-organiser Birgitta Hosea of the Animation Research Centre and a few of the UK speakers will be in attendance. This event is supported by the University for the Creative Arts. For more information and to book a free place, go to: https://synaesthetic-syntax-watchparty.eventbrite.co.uk.

Synaesthetic Syntax: Sounding Animation / Visualising Audio is a one-day symposium that brings together animators, musicians, artists, technologists and academics to discuss the interrelationships between audio and animation. Papers cover topics such as synaesthetic connections between sound and image, the role of gesture, improvisation and presence in live performance and the creative use of geometric and algorithmic patterns.

Our Keynote speaker is media artist, Rose Bond, who produces work at the juncture of cinema, animation and experiential design. She will be presenting her latest animated collaboration with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra on a live performance of Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ars Electronica festival is mainly taking place online this year with a number of small events taking place at different associated venues around the world. The Expanded Animation strand will have a series of small, socially distanced Watch Parties in Linz, London and Portland.

Synaesthetic Syntax Symposium Schedule:

 10:15–10:45    Keynote: Rose Bond (CA/US), Sounding Together – Choreographing the Unpredictable

11:00–11:05    Welcome: Birgitta Hosea (UK), Juergen Hagler (AT), Harry Whalley (UK)

 11:05–12:40    Panel I: Hearing Colour Seeing Sound
11:05–11:10    Introduction: Birgitta Hosea (UK)
11:10–11:30    Vicky Smith (UK), Expanded Cinema and Para Animation: More than Audio and Visual
11:30–11:50    Alexander Stublic (DE), Presence and interaction in synaesthetic space
11:50–12:10    Sama Mara (UK), A Hidden Order – Revealing connections between geometry and music through harmony and mathematics
12:10–12:40    Panel Discussion (Chaired by Birgitta Hosea)

12:40–14:00    Break            

14:00–15:30    Panel II: In front of your eyes and ears
14:00–14:05    Introduction: Harry Whalley (UK)
14:05–14:25    Giusy Caruso, Bavo Van Kerrebroeck, Pieter Jan Maes (BE), PIANO PHASE for two pianists in VR
14:25–14:45    Umut Eldem (BE), Towards a “Live Synaesthetic Visualisation”? Considerations in Artistically Visualised Sound
14:45–15:05    Jānis Garančs (LV), Algorithmic conflation and re-configuration of audiovisual space and movement in the series of experiments with financial data audio-visualisations as immersive artworks.
15:05–15:30    Panel Discussion (Chaired by Harry Whalley)

15:30–16:00    Break            

16:00–17:30    Panel III: The Kinaesthetics of Music and Vision
16:00–16:05    Introduction: Juergen Hagler (AT)
16:05–16:25    João Pedro Oliveira (US), Gesture Interaction Between Sound and Image
16:25–16:45    Fred Collopy (US), A hypothesis-based approach to visual synthesizer design
16:45–17:05    Eric Dyer (US) Physical Presence and Material Desire: Eric Dyer’s sculptural and performative animation art practice
17:05–17:30    Panel Discussion (Chaired by Juergen Hagler)

17.30-18.00    Closing Note: Rose Bond (CA/US), Birgitta Hosea (UK), Juergen Hagler (AT),

Further information: 

Expanded Animation events at Ars Electronica: www.expandedanimation.com

Animation Research Centre at UCA: https://www.uca.ac.uk/research/arc

Audio Research Cluster at UCA: https://www.audio-research.com

Research Degrees at UCA: https://www.uca.ac.uk/research/research-degrees

 

 

Gender*uck

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Art in Flux / National Gallery X

Talk: 6.30-8pm Tues 16th June 2020
Book free ticket: https://www.artinfluxlondon.com/gender_uck.html#
Exhibition: https://www.artinfluxlondon.com/gender_uck_online_exhibition.html

Gender*uck01

Media arts question boundaries and definitions of societal concepts, including notions and conceptions of gender. Gender*uck presents a next generation of artists investigating boundaries of gender concepts. These young artists investigate gender fluid representation in diverse media: Where does technology empower, where does it limit our conceptions of self and other? How can we look beyond binary forms of representations in the context of the binary and digital in new media. In a tech-centric world of media abundance, what roles can artists play in questioning gender norms, gender representations and gender normativity?

Gender*ck02

Paul Kindersley looks at gender normalisations in youtube make-up tutorials. Drucilla Burrell investigates esthetics beyond gender definitions through her fine art photography series. Media artist Birgitta Hosea discusses gender in her animation and performance practice. Paula Callus is presenting her work with Nigerian women artists from an anthropological angle focusing upon the culturally located experiences of gender. James Nasmyth will present a photobooth that subverts gender conceptions. Artist Jake Elwes explores alternative gender representations in the context of machine learning algorithms: What happens when computers try to find patterns of beauty beyond gender concepts and their mathematical confinements. Last but not least, Ro Greengrass’s investigates non-binary concepts through their art and music creation. Talks by Birgitta Hosea, Jake Elwes and Paula Callus will be contextualised by artist demos.

Together these artists discuss limitations, possibilities and the future of technology for art forms beyond gender in the context of New Media – in an evening curated by Art in Flux Co-founder Olive Gingrich.